Dispensers for centerflow rolls of sheet material products have become popular for dispensing sheet materials. Such dispensers usually do not rely on mechanical means to move or advance the roll. In a centerflow roll, the roll of sheet material product is formed with a hollow opening therethrough, and the sheets are removed from the hollow opening of a stationary roll rather than from a cylindrical outer surface of a roll which must be rotated.
Tension is desirably applied to the sheet material flowing from the roll and through an exit port of a dispenser for centerflow rolls to control the amount of sheet material withdrawn. If too little tension is applied to the sheet material, the sheet material dispenses without being separated, by perforations or other means into separate sheets, resulting in waste. Alternatively, if too much tension is applied, the sheets separate too early inside of the dispenser housing, resulting in jamming, lack of sheets for withdrawal in the exit port, and user frustration.
Accordingly, a dispenser adapted to dispense various sheet materials which are provided in centerflow rolls and which control the tension of the sheet material flowing therethrough to permit appropriate disensing would be desirable. Such a dispenser would provide one or more mechanisms to appropriately tension the sheet material flowing therethrough to allow withdrawal of one sheet at a time from a centerflow roll to prevent both user waste and frustration. In addition, such a dispenser would desirably provide some adjustment of the tension mechanism(s), to further control greater or lesser tension dependent upon the type and the characteristics of the sheet material, such as, for example, basis weight, caliper, machine direction tensile strength, tab strength, and so forth. Moreover, such a dispenser would provide dispensing of a roll which is positioned horizontally or vertically.